Meditation & the Consciousness

There are various states of consciousness that we can have. Meditation is one of the most important of them. Following are normal states of consciousness

We are awake experiencing the world through the 5 senses. In absence of any one of these we lose the whole dimension.

At any given time in the waking state of consciousness one of our senses dominates i.e. sight, smell, touch, hearing, sound or taste

What is the purpose of each of these senses?

We want to experience feelings of elevation and joy through any of these senses. We want to look at something only if it is a source of joy not at something which saddens us. The mind is rated higher than the sense because our senses have a limited capacity to enjoy.

The deep sleep state is the only time when we get a 'really good rest'. But more sleep may result in dullness as energy is spent there

We 'recollect' the experience in the dream state.

We need to move to a higher level of consciousness, the fourth state of consciousness which we all know by our meditation also called as "Shiva". This state gives the deepest possible rest that we can ever have. The mind becomes fresh, delicate and beautiful.

Waking:

Sleeping:

Dreaming:

Meditation:

Meditation prevents stresses from getting into the bodily system and already pent up stresses are let out. Both happen simultaneously and we tap the source and joy of what we are. As this state consumes us more and more, we become happier, anything we see, we feel, we look at, becomes more intense and more beautiful. Each of our senses then does the job of all the other senses too. Our knowledge increase and becomes more intuitive. Our consciousness makes us feel that our body is part of the whole, part of the entire creation and the entire creation is part of us.

Once this fourth state becomes more and more pre-dominant, more imbibed into our daily life, then we move to the fifth state of consciousness, called the cosmic consciousness. It means being aware of the whole cosmos as part of yourself.

When the world is part of us, so much love flows between us and the whole world. This state of consciousness gives us the strength to bear with the opposing forces in our life, to deal with the things that disturb us, anger and disappointments. We don't hold on to them.

The first result of us increasing consciousness, is to be able to leave negative emotions. We get used to living 'in the moment' and let go of things because no matter how good the people we interact with are, there are bound to be misunderstandings. A higher state of consciousness is when intuitions develop and the ability to see and perceive grow.

The highest is the simplest. All that needs to be done is to learn to let go.

Founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,The Art of Living is an educational and humanitarian movement engaged in stress-management and service initiatives.
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